Composting 101: All About Composting for Beginners

If you want to have your very own backyard vegetable garden there are some things you will want to learn. Welcome to Composting 101: All About Composting for Beginners. Composting is a great thing to implement when you are doing organic vegetable gardening. Starting a garden can be a daunting task, especially when you are just a beginner and don't have a clue where to start out. Many people who live an off grid life will implement backyard vegetable gardening into their homestead as a means of being self reliant and not having to rely on grocery stores for their produce. Living off grid can be a great way to live and to raise a family in a natural holistic way. Going off grid is not for the faint of heart though, but even through it is a lot of work, it is highly rewarding and a very healthy way to live you life. To have the healthiest produce from your garden, you will need healthy soil to start out first of all. Soil needs to have a balanced pH, just like our own bodies, in order for healthy vegetables to grow. Soil that is too acidic doesn't contain the proper nutrients for plants to grow so it needs some good nutrients in it.

When you are starting a garden, it helps to get some compost or manure into your garden bed to enrich the soil. Compost is made from the kitchen scraps of all organic materials from your daily kitchen routine. So all things that are plant matter can go into the compost bin which is where the compost is stored. You can add in banana peels and other fruit peels, vegetable scraps, egg shells and even coffee grounds. Some paper products are able to go in the compost bin, but you might want to make sure that they aren't bleached paper products. Meat however cannot go into the compost bin. Meat products are far too acidic to go into the compost and they take longer to decompose. The compost is created by the decomposition of the materials that are thrown in there. Heat assists this process and before you know it all of the materials have broken down into a soil like material. It is really amazing when you try it out and see it for yourself. Usually it takes six to twelve months to have a substantial amount of compost that can be used.

The article from the Gardening Channel is very detailed and explains all of the aspects of composting and exactly what the compost needs in order to thrive. You can build your very own compost bin out of wood, there are lots of diy tutorials on how to build a compost bin out of recycled wooden pallets. This makes it an easy and affordable project. Just build your bin and start throwing in your kitchen scraps and watch the magic start happening. You can also buy plastic type of material compost bins, and even bins that turn around so it makes it easier for you to turn your compost. Turning your compost is something that needs to be done weekly to keep it aerated. For the wooden bins all you would have to do is just simply take a large garden shovel and stir it up. Once you have your compost, and you are starting a garden, you can spread it out over your garden plot and work it into the soil. Leave the soil for a few days to assimilate before you plant anything. Try out these awesome tips and make yourself some amazing compost to add to your backyard vegetable garden. You will grow some of the healthiest, most beautiful plants ever.*